Anyone know a good formula for hockey on how to find the magic number?

Sure, there are a couple of things you can do.

1) Wait until April 1, when I'm going to start my magic number thread for the 5th consecutive year, or

2) Have me actually explain that the magic number to clinch (in the absence of tiebreakers) is the 9th-highest possible points total in a conference + 1. For any scenario, it's possible points + 1 in the absence of tiebreakers.

1) Wait until April 1, when I'm going to start my magic number thread for the 5th consecutive year, or

2) Have me actually explain that the magic number to clinch (in the absence of tiebreakers) is the 9th-highest possible points total in a conference + 1. For any scenario, it's possible points + 1 in the absence of tiebreakers.

I forgot you make that thread, and I was totally spending my day off making a spreadsheet for the WC with numbers. I'm a bored business major that loves making things in Excel. I'll just keep playing with it until April 1. Why don't you make the thread now?

This is also a good resource for finding out how many wins a team needs to clinch the playoffs.

What they do is simulate every remaining game of the season, and then run the simulation 32 million times. A team is declared "in" the playoffs if none of those simulations show them missing the playoffs ...

So technically these are not the same as magic numbers; when a team is declared in the playoffs, what that really means is "according to our model, their probability of missing the playoffs is less than 1 in 32 million".

The exact formula used to determine the probability of a team winning a game isn't clearly documented, so take it for what it's worth.

1) Calculate Points + 2 * Games Remaining for each of the teams in the conference.
2) Pick the 9th highest of these.
3) Add 1.
4) Subtract the number in 3 from the number of points a team has. That's the magic number.

1) Calculate Points + 2 * Games Remaining for each of the teams in the conference.
2) Pick the 9th highest of these.
3) Add 1.
4) Subtract the number in 3 from the number of points a team has. That's the magic number.

At the Coyotes game tonight. I'll create a formula in excel and see what pops out when I get home. Thank you!

G=Total games in a season
A= Team A (The team you are making the magic number for)
B= Team B (The team you want to eliminate)

For example, lets say Edmonton is competing with Colorado for the 8th and final playoff spot in a full 82 game season, and the team records are as follows

EDM - 37-34-7
COL - 35-33-10

To find the Magic number of wins Edmonton would need to make the playoffs we would use the formula as follows:

G+1-AW-.5AOTL-BL-.5BOTL
(82)+1-(37)-.5(7)-(33)-.5(10)= 4.5 Games or 9pts

If Edmonton can record 9 points or Colorado loses 9 points in the remaining 4 games that each team has then they eliminate Colorado and lock up the 8th spot.

This is an interesting formula. When I put this into Excel, before tonights results, it said the Coyotes magic number was 39, basing it off the Stars which held the 8th spot in the west before entering tonight's games. Do you come out to something around that using your formula after tonight's results? I'm a bit intoxicated, but want to get this to work!

This is an interesting formula. When I put this into Excel, before tonights results, it said the Coyotes magic number was 39, basing it off the Stars which held the 8th spot in the west before entering tonight's games. Do you come out to something around that using your formula after tonight's results? I'm a bit intoxicated, but want to get this to work!

Sorry for necroing this thread, but when does the Magic Numbers thread usually appear on the main boards?

I'm planning on April 1, which is a Monday. We'll be out of town (visiting in-laws) on the 31st. Heck, I might do it the night of the 31st. But it'll be somewhere right in that area.

Generally I aim for a starting date when there's a bit of separation between 4th/5th and 9th. Right now it's just way too compact, so I'm going for the later date with about 15 games to go rather than earlier years (where it was 20-25).

I'm planning on April 1, which is a Monday. We'll be out of town (visiting in-laws) on the 31st. Heck, I might do it the night of the 31st. But it'll be somewhere right in that area.

Generally I aim for a starting date when there's a bit of separation between 4th/5th and 9th. Right now it's just way too compact, so I'm going for the later date with about 15 games to go rather than earlier years (where it was 20-25).

sportsclubstats simulation thinks pittsburgh can clinch (playoffs, nothing else) with a win against montreal tomorrow.
unlike magic number calculations, it takes into account games played between all teams. Unfortunately it's weighting system probably leads to premature clinches.

edit: nm, last night's simulation puts them back up to 57pts to clinch, which is more reasonable. I think it was glitched because out of 1.8B simulations, only one had pittsburgh just getting 52 points, and that simulation also ended up having them in the playoffs. On the west side it's showing ~60 pts right now. With losses to 9/10 seeds and a few more wins, those three teams should clinch in the first week of april.

Magic Number
For every point the Flyers receive or for every point that an opposition lose, their magic numbers go down. This magic number is set up to represent pure elimination, which means if the number reaches 0 the Flyers are guaranteed to finish at least 1 point ahead of the opponent so no tie breakers will be assessed. At 0.5 tie breakers apply.

Reverse Magic Number
For Every point the Oilers lose or for every point the opponents gain this number will go down. This magic number is set up to represent pure elimination, which means if the number reaches 0 the Oilers are guaranteed to finish at least 1 point below of the opponent so no tie breakers will be assessed. At 0.5 tie breakers apply.

Tie Breaker Rules

1. The fewer number of games played (i.e., superior points percentage).

2. The greater number of games won, excluding games won in the Shootout. This figure is reflected in the ROW column.

3. The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any "odd" games, shall be used to determine the standing.

4. The greater differential between goals for and against for the entire regular season. NOTE: In standings a victory in a shootout counts as one goal for, while a shootout loss counts as one goal against.[/QUOTE]

At this point if all of NYR, CAR, WAS, NYI, BUF, TB, and FLO lose and/or Philadelphia gains 40 points in the each teams remaining 15-18 games then the Flyers will make the playoffs. However if Philadelphia loses or all the teams listed from the NYR and higher win 40 points then Philadelphia will be eliminated from the playoffs.

Dallas is 9th with 33pts and 16 games left. If they win out, that's 65 pts.
However, following the standings up, with all the other teams winning the rest of their games, and deducting one point for overtime losses with teams already considered, it happens that LA maxes out at 64. I believe it is possible, however, to leave LA with 65 and keep all the other teams at 65 as well. (In other words, I am considering everyone's schedule as well.)

These would be if you gained them all yourself. To follow them day by day is complicated, because of scheduling. For example, Dallas going L (rather than OTL) does not necessarily deduct 2 points from this..... And, if Dallas went OTL twice, Nashville could pass them as the team on the bubble.....